Fig. 2

LincK promoted EMT programs of breast cancer cells in vitro. a–c Stable cell lines with LincK knockdown or ectopic expression were established using lentivirus transduction followed by puromycin selection in MCF-7 (a), MDA-MB-453 (b), and MDA-MB-231 (c). The expressions of LincK were detected by qRT-PCR. shCTRL, negative control; shLincK1 and shLincK2, shRNAs against LincK; LV-Control, overexpression empty vector; LV-LincK, overexpression of LincK. Data were shown as means ± S.D. d, g The morphology of MCF-7 cells (d) and MDA-MB-453 cells (g, after co-culture with hAD-MSCs for 2 weeks) with LincK knockdown and overexpression examined by phase-contrast microscopy (× 200 magnification). e, h, j qRT-PCR of EMT markers in MCF-7 (e), MDA-MB-453 (h), and MDA-MB-231 (j) with LincK knockdown or overexpression. Data were shown as means ± S.D. (n = 3). f, i, k Western Bolt assay of EMT markers in MCF-7 (f), MDA-MB-453 (i), and MDA-MB-231 (k) with LincK knockdown or overexpression. Error bars represent the mean ± S.D. of triplicate experiments. Statistical differences were analyzed using Student’s test (***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *P < 0.05)